Cabinet for mechanical refrigerators and appurtenances thereof



Deg. 7, 1937. L. M; CROSLEY CABINET FOR MECHANICAL REFRIGERA'IORS ANDAPPURTENANGES THEREOF Filed N v/14, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.Lewis M Cros'le ATTORNEYS;

9 1937- I M. @ROSLEY I ,1 ,702

CABINET FOR MECHANICALBEFRIGERATORS AND APPUR'IENAIICES THEREOF FiledNov. 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Lewis M Crqshy dm aww ATTORNEY-3.

Patented Dec. 7, 1931 PATENT orrica CABINET FOR MECHANICAL REFRIGERA-TORS AND APPURTENANCES THEREOF Lewis M. Crosley, Cincinnati, Ohio,assignor to The Crosley Radio Corporation, Cincinnati,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 14, 1934, Serial No.753,012

5 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and parts, and is ofespecial utility in connection with refrigerators of a type having a lidopening upwardly on horizontal pivots and giving access to therefrigerated compartment,'as

distinguished. from the ordinary door or doors, which open outwardlyupon vertical pivots. Rofrigerators of this type, and which are usuallyof relatively small size, are coming into considerable favor for use inapartments or under other conditions of restricted space, and'for use byfamilies of limited. means. An exemplary refrigerator of this type, towhich, however, my invention is not limited, is a refrigerator having alower compartment containing the motor, compressor and condenser, and anupper refrigerated compartment of relatively small capacity, say, of twocubic feet, or thereabouts. It will be clear that with such relativelylimited storage space, the problem of utilizing all of the availablespace to the utmost advantage is a problem of considerable importance.

provision of a cabinet with means, as will be hereinafter set forth, forutilizing substantially all of the" available space, as aforesaid, andthis and other objects of my invention which will be se forthhereinafteror which will be apparent to one skilled in the art uponreading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain constructionand arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe an exemplaryembodiment.

This exemplary embodiment is a small sized cabinet of the type to whichIha-ve referred, it being understood, however, that my invention is notlimited thereto.

, In the drawings:

. Figure 1 is a sectional view of a cabinet of this type.

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view thereof with the lid raised.

' brackets l2 upon the base 6., A control or adjustrnent unit I! ismounted upon the front wall and has an operating handle it, togetherwith a face plate bearing suitable indicia, and a switch, if desired,lying outside of the front wall I in a position of convenient access. Ihave not particularly described the mechanical apparatus in the machinecompartment, since this does not form a limitation upon. my invention,and since the various mechanism, tubing connections and electricalconnections may be those which are well known in the art.

I have shown inihe refrigerated compartment an evaporator l5, which ispreferably, though not necessarily, of a type shown in a copendingapplication of Crosley and Money, Ser. No. 740,554 filed Aug. 20, 1934.A return tubing connection from the evaporator to the compressor isindicated at It. The evaporator is fed with liquefied refrigerant fromthe condenser I, through a restricted flow tube ii, in this particularembodiment of my invention. The tubing connections may run through aprotecting sleeve Hi to the top of the refrigerated compartment, and.may thencepass through the upper My invention has for its primaryobject the a box-like structure is open at the top. Be-

tween the compartment l9 and the outer walls I and the partition 3 thereis positioned insulating material indicated at 20. The top edges of therefrigerated compartment may be finished by wooden or other rail members2| contacting the outer walls, and to which the food compartment I9 isattached, as by screws 22. The ma-' chine compartment is open in therear to provide for ventilation, and in particular for the cooling ofthe condenser I by a blast of air from the fan 23.

The food or refrigerated compartment 5 is closed and insulated upon thebottom and all four lateral sides. It is closed at the top by a lidindicated generally at 2|, which is hinged to the back' rail 2|, as at25. or bearing members 26 form an air-tight joint between the lid andthe refrigerated compart-' ment, thereby reinforcing the efiect of theinsulation. The lid is, of course, insulated as at 21.

The lid may take a variety of forms. In my exemplary embodiment I haveshown a form in which the lid has a peripheral projection formed bymembers 28 extending into the refrigerated compartment'and finishedwithin by a-metal plate 29, which thereby forms a recess in which shelfmembers may be placed, as I have herein after described. It wouldequally be possible, however, to bulge the lid outwardly and to formParting strips on the top of the evaporator l5.

In the practice of my invention, I provide means for retaining materialsor articles to be stored in the lid, and for this purpose shelves areprovided in connection with the lid. Since the lid swings on horizontalpivots from a horizontal to a vertical position, or therebeyond, meansmust be provided to make the shelves operative in either position, andto cause the shelves to retain the articles or materials aforesaid inall positions and during the swinging operation. It will be understoodthat the articles or materials, which for the most part will be placedin the shelves on the lid, are such articles as eggs, fruit,*smallbottles or small packages, which articles if spread out upon shelftherein, would occupy an effective space very much larger than theiractual bulk, for the reason that it might be impracticable to placeother articles upon them. Moreover, the arrangement which I shallhereinafter describe makes for convenience, inasmuch as it partiallyeliminates the necessity for stacking articles in the refrigerator, sothat to all intents and purposes all articles therein are immediatelyand easily accessible.

Preferably I form my shelves of wire or bar material, although they mayotherwise be formed if desired. Reference to Fig. 3 will show main siderail members 32 formed of wire or bar stock. These main rails have U-shaped bends 33 at their upper ends, and at their lower ends are bentas at 34 so as to provide at either end tongue mem-,

bers extending in the same direction. These tongue members are adaptedto engage in bracket members 35 fastened upon the lid. These bracketmembers may conveniently be in the form of half hinges, or any othersuitable form may be employed. It will be clear that, as looked at inFig- 3, the whole shelf construction, which is mounted to the side rails32, may be removed as a unit from the lid by an upward motion whichdisengages the tongues from the brackets. The shelf constructioncomprises, in my preferred form, frame members 36, 31, and 38, one sideof the main rails 32. The other side is projected inwardly of the recessin the door, so that the frame members lie aslantof the rail members3-2, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The other sides of the framemembers 36 to 38 are connected by means of supplementary rail members39. The

.sides of the frame members are connected at intervals by bow-shapedrods or wires 40, 4| and the bottom of the food compartment, or upon aeach of these frame members being attached to 42, which may vary as toshape, but which proing the wires or bars forming the various parts attheir meeting and crossing points. Afterward the wall shelfconstruction, which is thus unitary, may be tinned or otherwise treatedfor protection or appearance, as may be found desirable. While I preferto make my shelf removable as a unit for cleaning or the liire, still myinvention is not so limited, and the several shelf members may beseparate and separably movable or permanently fastened into place, asdesired.

The lid may have a bracket member 43 to limit its upward motion. I haveshown in the various views such articles as eggs ll, oranges 45, bottles46, and have indicated how these will be retained in all positions ofthe lid.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from thespirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A shelf construction for hinged upwardly opening refrigerator lids,said shelf construction comprising at least one frame member angularlydisposed to the plane of said. lid, and a plurality of arcuately shapedretaining members attached to said frame members, said retaining membersproviding a recess into which articles may be placed, which recess willretain said articles in all operative positions of said lid.

2. A shelf construction for refrigerators having hinged upwardly opening11dS, sald shelf construction comprising a plurality of frame members,and means for holding said frame members at an angle to the plane ofsaid lid, each of said frame members having means extending thereacrossand of a sh'ape such as will provide a recess extending below said framemembers in all operative positions of said lid. 3. A shelf constructionfor refrigerators having hinged upwardly opening lids, said shelfconstruction comprising side rail members, supplementary rail members,frame members each hav: ing one of its sides attached to said side railmembers, and the other of its sides attached to said supplementary railmembers so that said frame members lie at an angle tosaid rail members,and open work members connecting the respective sides of said framemembers extending below said frame members so as to provide a basketlikerecess, a substantial portion of which will lie below said frame membersin all operative positions of said door.

4. In combination, a hinged upwardly openi refrigerator door, a shelfmember in operative connection therewith, said shelf member having D nerlying and acting as a support for articles thereon when said door isopen, and another part underlying and acting as a support for articlesthereon when said door is closed, said last mentioned part having areentrant portion preventing accidental dislodgment of said articleswhen said door is closed.

5. Ashelf construction for refrigerators having hinged upwardly openinglids, said shelf construction comprising frame members disposed at anangle to said lid, and open-work members connecting the respective sidesof said frame members and extending below said frame members so as toprovide a basket-like recess, a substantial Portion of which will liebelow said frame members in all operative positions of said door.

' LEWIS M. CROBLEY.

